Do you usually default to ‘fixing nervousness’ and constantly end up extra confused and anxious due to it? In that case, this episode of the nervousness man podcast is for you. Take pleasure in (and don’t overlook to depart a remark on the backside after):
Why Fixing Anxiousness Doesn’t Work (and What to Do As a substitute)
For those who’ve ever struggled with any type of nervousness, the determined feeling that comes with making an attempt to “repair” it. Late-night Google searches. Countless self-help books. Another respiration approach. One other complement. One other appointment. The thoughts says: “If I can simply work out what’s unsuitable and repair it, then I’ll lastly be happy.”
It sounds logical, however right here’s the issue: fixing nervousness doesn’t work.
The truth is, many individuals discover that the extra they chase nervousness options, the extra anxious they develop into. The cycle grows stronger, not weaker. And over time, the act of fixing turns into one other symptom of tension itself.
So why does this occur? And if fixing nervousness doesn’t convey lasting aid, what does?
The Lure of Fixing Anxiousness
Fixing nervousness feels productive. It feels such as you’re taking motion, doing one thing about the issue. However right here’s the entice the inside protector locations: when your mind sees you consistently making an attempt to repair, it assumes there actually is one thing damaged or harmful that wants fixing.
As a substitute of calming the system, this retains the alarm bells ringing. The message turns into: “You aren’t protected till you resolve this. You aren’t okay till you repair this.”
So each try to repair nervousness turns into a reinforcement of worry. And the extra you strive, the extra satisfied your nervous system turns into that you simply’re at risk. Are you able to relate to what I’m saying right here?
Why Fixing Feeds the Cycle
Take into consideration how usually nervousness victims bounce between new strategies: one week it’s meditation, the following week it’s a brand new food regimen, the following it’s a mind coaching app. Every new try brings a burst of hope, adopted by disappointment when the signs return.
This fixed “trial and error” cycle quietly teaches the mind: “Anxiousness is highly effective, I’m powerless, and I have to maintain preventing.”
Fixing nervousness on this method by no means permits house for belief, security, or stability. It retains the give attention to the nervousness itself, somewhat than on residing life past it. That’s why at this time’s podcast episode is so essential, be certain to pay attention in full on the prime of this web page.
What “Fixing” Actually Means
When folks discuss fixing nervousness, they’re normally referring to a perception that:
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Anxiousness is proof of being damaged.
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Anxiousness signs are harmful and should be eradicated.
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Anxiousness aid solely comes when it’s all 100% gone.
However right here’s the reality: nervousness shouldn’t be an indication that you simply’re falling aside. It’s an unconsciously conditioned response. It’s your nervous system doing its job slightly too properly, sending alarms even when there’s no actual menace.
Making an attempt to repair it as if it’s a flaw solely strengthens the assumption that one thing is unsuitable with you.
The Shift Away from Fixing Anxiousness
So if fixing nervousness doesn’t work, what does? Sure, I’ll go a lot deeper into this in at this time’s podcast, however for now perceive this…
Actual restoration doesn’t come from countless fixing. It comes from a shift in strategy, a shift from preventing your self to working with your self.
It’s about creating new experiences that present your mind you might be protected. It’s about permitting house for vulnerability somewhat than consistently patching over it. And it’s about residing in methods which can be greater than nervousness, as a substitute of residing as if nervousness is the middle of your world.
This shift is easy, however not all the time simple. It feels uncomfortable at first as a result of the outdated “fixing” habits have been repeated for thus lengthy. However when you step into it, one thing highly effective begins to vary.
Why This Method Feels Unfamiliar
For those who’ve spent years fixing nervousness, you would possibly marvel why one other path feels so weak. That vulnerability is definitely an indication you’re transferring in the appropriate route. The mind resists new methods of being as a result of they don’t really feel as acquainted as fixing.
However familiarity isn’t the identical as reality. Simply because your outdated patterns really feel protected doesn’t imply they’re serving you.
What to Do As a substitute
As a substitute of pouring all of your vitality into fixing nervousness, start noticing how a lot of your day is spent in fight-mode. How usually are you checking signs? Trying to find reassurance? Working by “what ifs”?
Consciousness is step one.
From there, the true inside work is about gently redirecting your vitality into residing somewhat than fixing. That’s the place deeper therapeutic occurs.
I gained’t lay out each step right here on this weblog put up, as a result of that’s precisely what I’m going into in depth in my podcast episodes and my Well being Anxiousness Restoration Program however I can let you know this: whenever you step out of the fixing entice, you open the door to restoration.
The Value of Staying in Repair-Mode
It’s price asking your self: How a lot of my life have I misplaced to fixing nervousness?
The hours of analysis. The missed alternatives. The fixed stress to really feel higher earlier than you may reside higher.
This fixing strategy comes at a excessive price, not simply emotionally, however bodily and spiritually. It retains you working in circles as a substitute of transferring ahead.
You Don’t Want Fixing
Right here’s the takeaway: you don’t want fixing, as a result of you aren’t damaged. Anxiousness shouldn’t be proof of weak point, it’s a sample. And patterns can change (as a lot because the inside protector will attempt to persuade you they’ll’t).
The second you cease making an attempt to repair nervousness as if it’s a private flaw, you create house for one thing new: security, belief, and therapeutic.
The true breakthrough comes not from controlling each thought or eliminating each symptom, however from entering into life in a method that proves to your nervous system that you’re already okay.
Remaining Ideas
Fixing nervousness seems like the appropriate path, however in actuality, it retains you caught in the identical anxious loop. The mind learns by repetition, and if all it sees is you making an attempt to repair, it assumes hazard continues to be current.
The choice requires braveness. It means entering into vulnerability, selecting to reside, and permitting new experiences that present your physique it might lastly chill out.
For those who’ve been caught within the fixing cycle, perhaps that is the reminder you want: there’s one other method ahead.
The Anxiousness Man Podcast is without doubt one of the hottest psychological well being podcasts on the planet with greater than 20 million downloads alongside the Well being Anxiousness Podcast Present.
It has been chosen as the highest psychological well being and nervousness podcast on Apple 6 occasions, and has been pay attention as a prime podcast for nervousness at this time on Psychology At present, Selecting Remedy, Higher Assist, Ladies’s Well being, Marissa Peer and lots of extra. To hearken to any of the previous episodes totally free, try this web page.
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